Grandma’s Apple Pie
Lit Up-May’s Prompt: Nostalgia.
Just one mouthful of apple pie sends Jackie hurtling back through time.
Waking with the sun, she would accompany Grandma to the orchard with her little brother, Tim, in tow.
“Ready, set, go.”
After Grandma’s call, the siblings would race to see who could collect the most apples within their pails. Back then, Jackie had loved the game, especially when she was the winner. Whoever collected the most got to place their pastry leaves on top of Grandma’s special apple pie. Neither of them wanted to settle for second place and the consoltation prize; having the thankless task of sprinkling the sugar on top. It was only later that Jackie cottoned on that Grandma had them ‘well trained’ as farm hands. Quite proud to be such a useful helper, Jackie started to sneak extra apples into Tim’s pail. She wanted him to win and feel useful too.
“You were always rubbish at collecting apples,” Tim laughs. Jackie snaps back to the present day and reaches for Tim’s plate.
“Tina and Miles are too little to have collected all of the apples themselves. I helped too, which means that you are calling my apple pie rubbish. If my dessert isn’t good enough for you, King Tim, then I won’t have you suffer it for a second longer.”
Tim looks horrified. He clutches his plate like it is a precious child.
“You really must get your hearing checked, Jax. Did you think that I said, rubbish? I said that you were wonderful. You must always invite us over so I can eat your delicious apple pie.”
Jackie points out that if he would just go ahead and learn Grandma’s recipe, he would always have apple pie. Her lazy younger brother smiles like an angel and asks why that was necessary when she was a good enough cook for the both of them.
“Did I do a good job of cooking, Mama?”
Jackie nods and assures her daughter that she was a marvel in the kitchen. As she gives Tina a proud hug, Jackie is reminded of the faint scent of rose perfume.
“I’m a good cook, aren’t I, Grandma?”
Grandma would always give the best hugs in return.
“Jackie, in the kitchen, you are a marvel.”
After receiving her beaming confirmation from her mother, Tina turns to Tim.
“Mama told me all of her cooking secrets. I’ll share them with you. Let me show you how to make apple pie, Uncle Tim.”
Tim tells his adorable niece that he would like that very much. He takes another mouthful of apple pie and finds himself back in Grandma’s kitchen.
Brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter and apples. Since Tim had a talent for spilling ingredients, his job was usually stirring the filling. While it rarely stayed in the bowl, Tim didn’t mind. So what if it ended up on his clothes and in his hair. Tim made sure that it never went to waste. Everybody knows that stirring was the best job. He got to lick the bowl, and the spoon.
Tim jumps back to the present day by a tug on his arm. His tiny son, Miles wants some recognition as well.
“Did I cook good too, Papa? Aunty Jax let me stir the filling.”
“I can see that,” his father smiles.
Even after his bath, Tim can spot the mixture stuck in Miles’ hair. He runs his fingers through his hair and helps himself to a sample. Miles frowns.
“You’re s’posed to eat the pie, not me,” he protests, making everybody at the table laugh.
“You did a wonderful job of helping,” Tim assures Miles. “I am so proud of you.”
“I rolled the pastry,” Tina boasts, wanting her Uncle to be proud of her too.
“Didn’t I do a lovely job of rolling out the pastry?”
Miles, not wanting to hand over all of the attention just yet, added “I said ‘ding’. You wouldn’t have any pie without me. I told Aunty Jax when to take the pie out of the oven.”
Tim and Jackie lock eyes and laugh. They remember having staring contests in front of the oven timer. The first person who saw it run out got to say ‘ding’ and run to fetch Grandma. While this was going on, Grandma was in the sitting room, taking a load off and reading her magazines.
“She really did have us well trained,” Tim remarked.
Jackie had to agree, not that she minded. She had enjoyed peacefully reading this afternoon while Tina and Miles had kept themselves occupied staring at the oven.
As Tim is about to eat his pastry leaf, he leans over to Jackie.
“Dare I ask which of them made this?”
Tim was wise to ask. Back when they had been competitive as children, the question of who got to make the leaves would often end in tears. Tina hears him and shoots her Uncle Tim a proud grin.
“Miles made them. Miles got to make the bestest leaves because he picked the most apples; even more than me!”
Then, very cheekily, Tina gives the adults an exaggerated wink. She was selfless enough to let her younger cousin win, but couldn’t bear giving up all of the glory. Jackie rewards her kind gesture with a squeeze to her shoulders.
Miles, delighted to receive the recognition, sits up tall.
“I won, Papa! I picked the most apples and put the leaves on top of the pie. I did a good job, didn’t I?”
Then, knowing that he cannot take all of the credit, he admits that Tina had helped with the leaves, just a teensy bit.
“Would you like some help with your leaves, Timmy?”
Tim shook his head.
“Not even a teensy bit?” asks Jackie.
He considers the offer before nodding. His hands were quite tiny and he wasn’t the best at cutting pastry; yet. A teensy bit of help couldn’t hurt, right?
Jackie places her hand on top of Tim’s smaller one. Together they glide the butter knife through the leftover pastry. Once their precious diamonds were cut, they grabbed a toothpick each and decorated them with feathery lines. That year they both placed their leaves on top and shared the job of sprinkling on the sugar.
“Would you like some help with the dishes, Jackie?”
Jackie shoots him a grateful grin, and the two of them start clearing the table.
Tim’s partner, Amy cannot believe what she is seeing.
“Why are you freely offering to help your sister? I always have to nag you to do the dishes at home.”
Amy doesn’t understand that Tim is devoted to Jackie, even now. She had spent a lifetime helping out her baby brother. Though he was too proud to admit it to her face, he knew very well that his sister used to let him win when they were little. For that, and for all of the ways she had looked out for him growing up, Tim would spend a lifetime making it up to her.
Jackie’s partner, Brian, leans over to Amy.
“We should leave them to it, and get the movie started for the kids. Haven’t you noticed that look in their eyes? The nostalgia in here is as thick as this pastry crust.”
Amy looks from Jackie to Tim. Her brother-in-law is right. The two of them are caught up in the past. They might as well be a million miles away.
Barely noticing that their partners are wrangling the children into the lounge room, Jackie walks into the kitchen. Tim follows behind her.
In this special farmhouse, once belonging to their grandparents, and now to Jackie, they reminisce over apple pie, the shared childhood they treasured and Grandma.
